Monday, July 23, 2007

Loose Ends

Blogging from work during lunch, and though I'm basically emailing this entry to myself, I don't reckon that they'll go so far as to keep a key logger of some sort to monitor employee activity. At any rate, the blog isn't really mentioned and I'm not about to talk about work, so I don't think it'll be a problem.

Just thought about a few loose ends...

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So we went to the Bite on Friday, and now that Alex is potty trained, we have to constantly make him go to the bathroom because he either doesn't think about it until it's too late, or he ignores the warnings. Anyhow, I had to take Alex and Zoe each to the bathroom at least once that day, and the results are mention worthy...

When I took Alex, he went first, and then I went after him, and he said something that I always wanted to hear, except in my mind it wouldn't be my little son saying that. More like a hot blind girl with no nerve endings on any of her appendages. But he said, "You got a big peanut, Dad." And I just laughed. Then he reached over to touch the toilet bowl and I said, "Don't touch that," and then realized how terrible it sounded to everyone else in the bathroom.

Then when Zoe went, she asked what I was doing, and after I told her, she exclaimed, "You got a peanut like Alex, huh? I don't have a peanut."

And by the way, we do use the actual word for that body part - they just hear it differently.

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We ditched a sleeping Zoe yesterday and took Alex to see "Transformers", which was actually better than expected. I've heard that reaction with other people, and I have to agree that it's pretty much true. It's better than most Michael Bay movies, which always include a thing or two that doesn't seem quite right. Like how Pearl Harbor had that really cool, yet inappropriate tracking shot of a bomb going into a ship. And his romance scenes are always icky, like Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler playing out some deranged infantile safari with animal cookies. Or the body tossing chase scene in Bad Boys 2. Just not quite right.

The thing I liked about this movie was how diverse the cast was. The top hacker was a black kid, the girl was a grease monkey, and both their stories didn't seem forced. The plot moved the story right along, and the supporting cast and even Shia was actually not bad. The graphics of course, were fantastic. Completely seamless CG.

The things I didn't like with the movie was when the Autobots talked, it seemed weird. They were also too human to be alien. During a comedy bit, they were even going out of their way to hide from Sam's parents - quite silly if you've seen the rest of the movie. And the whole alien technology being able to make metals and machinery expand and contract to transform seem... suspect. And I'm being nitpicky here, but why would these robots fire traditional ammo? Like rockets and bullets? Wouldn't they be better off with lasers? Ammo has to be reloaded and rearmed, and it's not like there's a ammo dump for alien robots that's accessible to them. Maybe, but I don't think so. That said, I do prefer real world ammo. Lasers would just seem cheesy. But just the logic of it doesn't stick.

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Well, finishing up the blog from home since a few paragraphs ago.

I think one of my issues about work is how overeducated I feel at the place. I mean, I'm not implying snobbery by any means, but thinking that I spent all that money for tuition to work here? Makes me feel a bit peeved. And I think one of the biggest problems with being educated is that now I feel unchallenged. Nothing at work takes more than simple mechanical memory to complete. I'm currently working under someone and he still doesn't call me by name, just "hey" or "you". Nice.

On the good side, it is a M-T work week, and I have three days off after four ten-hour days. It makes me tired and short on time on the weekdays, but it's nice to have a regular schedule that my wife can work around.

On the downside, it is a contract position with no medical, and the pay is only slightly better than most. But by and far, the biggest obstacle is that it is not challenging. Oh well, it'll do for now until I get those blueprints for the bank.

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Ok, this is mostly for the one Apple geek that reads this. But there's been rumblings on the rumor mill about the iPhone nano, and the 6th gen iPod. There were some screenshots that were on a website, but Apple legal had them taken off which either means they're fishing for moles with intentional leaks, or they were on to something.

Here's what I'm hoping it'll be. I want a widescreen iPod with touch screen. That's all I want. But I think they're going to hold off on the widescreen. I think they might still have touchscreen, but who knows. To have an iPod with a touchscreen may be a bit goofy - it'll be hard to just skip a song without having to look at the screen. But they could very well do the opposite of iPhone, and just release an iPod with basic phone capabilities. But man, I'm really dying for a widescreen iPod. I don't even mind if it isn't touch screen. I just want a wide screen to watch my podcasts... August 7 is the rumored date for news. Just gotta be patient.

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I've been a geek for the History Channel recently, watching a ton of their documentaries but I was cemented as a fan when they showed Band of Brothers over a weekend a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately, I missed 3 episodes, but the first 5 have been exceptional. If you've forgotten or not cared, it's a 10 part mini-series that revolves around Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during WWII. What makes the stories amazing is that it's mostly based on real people, and the History Channel was true enough to leave the documentary uncensored. I think that's outstanding considering how touchy the networks can get.

But if you've got a chance, rent that mini-series. Every episode has so far been stellar, and each stands well on its own.

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